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The Plague Essay, Research Paper

In the mid 1940
s, Albert Camus, began to write the novel The Plague. The story has
been read over and over again, yet it tells more than it seems to. It
tells the story of a town gripped by a deadly disease, and of how the
inhabitants thrive to overcome it. Many consider the inhabitants
fight against the plague to be an allegory to the German Occupation
of France, however, as critic Albert Maquet says, to simplify things
The Plague is an allegorical novel. 1 The true meaning of the story,
however, is not an allegory. Albert Camus felt that life was a series
of contradictions. He felt that humans sought to explain the world in
human terms, however, Camus says, the world is thus not explicable. 2
Because of this condition, he referred to human life as absurd. This
absurdity amounts to an emptiness in our lives and makes our very
existence meaningless. However, Camus also believed we could find
meaning through purpose action, which means revolting against
injustices and fighting the against the plagues that enslave man.
3This belief runs throughout the novel; and the main characters all
represent this belief.

Camus could not
have created a better setting for the novel.The story takes place in
the desert town of Oran, Algeria, in northern Africa.The city suffers
from extremes of weather conditions; in the summer and the heat
forces the inhabitants “to spend those days of fire indoors, behind
closed shutters.” The people much like the shutters are closed off
from their neighbors, and usually devote themselves to cultivating
habits 4 . For the most part everyone in Oran is an individual; they
do not care their fellow man. However, the plague changes all of
this. When the plague strikes, at first each person refuses to accept
the inhumanity of the situation, and try to continue life as they
always have, in their selfish pursuits. However, as the death toll
rises the people realize that they cannot fight the plague on their
own, and that they must unit together and do so something to fight
the plague, or revolt against the absurd. (Cruickshank 174) This
reality is best seen in Raymond Rambert.

Rambert is a
journalist, who finds himself trapped in the city of Oran. The women
he loves lives beyond the walls of the city, and rather than
remaining with the others, he believes himself to be an outsider, and
tries to flee the city by any means. At one point, he tells Tarrou, I
don t believe in heroism What interests me is living for what one
loves. 5 Later, when speaking with Rieux, Rambert concludes that he
is no longer an individual, and that he is part of the town. He
realizes that “‘there’s nothing shameful in preferring
happiness but it may be shameful to be happy by oneself’ .”6
Rambert awakens to the truth, which he had been facing all along.
Rambert decides to drop his attempts to escape, and decides to join
Tarrou s sanitary squads. Like the others, Rambert gave up his
position as an individual; he realized that the calamity was
everybody s business. 7Through Rambert, Camus conveys his belief that
we must fight and revolt against the unfairness we find in our
existence.

Another
character who joins the revolt is the minor civil servant, Joseph
Grand. Grand for the most part is engaged in his literary work, which
never progresses beyond the first sentence. However, this man
eventually becomes referred to as the hero of the novel, though he
had nothing of the hero about. 8. He joins the fight against the
plague, acknowledging, “I can’t say I really know him, but one’s
got to help a neighbor, 9by keeping statistics of all the plagues
activities. Although, his tasks are menial, Grand is to be admired
because he joins the revolt and does what he can to contribute to the
fight against indifference. Camus has a respect for all of those who
join in the revolt and it is clear that he has a fondness for Grand
whom he refers to as the the true embodiment of courage 10.

Helping out the
fellow man is also important to Tarrou. Of all the characters in The
Plague, Tarrou most conveys Camus’ ideals and beliefs that we must
revolt against injustice. When the plague first strikes the town, it
appears that Tarrou is not motivated to help the people of the town.
However, this is not true. Tarrou not only works to end the suffering
that exists, he also strives not to cause any; Tarrou simply hates to
see human suffering. He tells Rieux that we can t stir a finger in
this world without the risk of bringing death to somebody. Camus
through Tarrou conveys his belief that man must do good to bring out
that “innate goodness” within him. Tarrou explains, “All I
maintain is that there are on this earth pestilence and there are
victims, and it’s up to us, so far as possible, not to join forces
with the pestilence”11. Tarrou s goal in life is not only to end
suffering, but also to become a saint. However, ironically, Tarrou is
an atheist, can one be a saint without God that s the problem, in
fact the only problem. 12The question is, therefore: What is it that
makes a saint? First, a saint is a holy man who has attained peace in
heaven and second a saint becomes an example to everyone of the
goodness that is possible for a man to accomplish. Through Tarrou,
Camus thus presents his belief: A man gives himself and his life
meaning through the good deeds which he performs for the welfare of
others. No man can attain peace in any other way. Good actions must
replace the conscious and unconscious indifference, which plagues
mankind.

The narrator of
the story, Dr. Bernard Rieux, also personifies aspects of Camus
philosophy. When Father Paneloux, a steadfast Catholic priest,
contends in his second sermon that suffering is a mystery that only
God understands, and that we must hold fast, trusting divine goodness
13 Rieux does not comply. Dr. Rieux, an atheist, does not believe in
God, he sees no alternative but to turn from Him and create his own
meaning, his own value. 14 Albert Camus, who also does not believe in
God, through Rieux declares that since the order of the world is
shaped by death, mightn t it be better for God if we refuse to
believe in Him and struggle with all our might against death, without
raising our eyes toward the heaven where He sits in silence? 15. For
Camus, and Rieux, religion is not the way to find meaning in our
lives. Just as in Tarrou, Grand, and Rambert, Camus through Rieux
reiterates his belief that we must revolt against the injustices in
society, to find meaning.

Not only does
Rieux, communicate Camus belief that we must revolt against
injustices, he also expresses Camus love and compassion for man.
Throughout the novel, Rieux tries to combat the disease, although he
knows that it is a never ending defeat. 16 Though he does not seem
himself as a hero, there can be no doubt that Camus conveys some sort
of heroism through him. He tells Tarrou that heroism and sanctity don
t really appeal to me what interests me is being a man 17 . He gains
our respect for his tireless, unselfish efforts to help others he
fights the plague, as a physician. He tells Tarrou there are sick
people [and] I defend them best I can. 18 Rieux is hero because he
helps his fellow man at risk of becoming ill himself, but he is also
a hero because, as critic James Woelfel says, actively struggling
against the injustices of the human condition. 19 Rieux will never
quit trying to help, though he knows that the plague bacillus never
dies and that the day would come when ‘it would raise up its rats
again. 20 Rieux reflects Camus compassion for man, and his belief
that man is inherently good.

Camus stressed
that The Plague was to be a more positive book than The Stranger. 21
And, though the novel centers on a gruesome plague, it also tells the
tale of a final victory. 22The characters fight against the absurd
and by doing so gain our admiration.

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